How To Convert a Visa Gift Card to Bitcoin

Converting a Visa Gift Card to Bitcoin might seem like a daunting task at first, but feat not as this article will provide a few solutions to converting your prepaid visa gift card to bitcoin. Gift cards are not the only physical medium people want to convert to Bitcoin. Not all of us have a use for prepaid gift cards or any other visa cards, however there is a growing demand for Bitcoin. While plastic card payments and Bitcoin might not play well together, that doesn’t mean there are no solutions.

What is a prepaid visa gift card

visa to bitcoin

The main goal of a prepaid Visa gift card is to provide somebody else with funds they can spend as they want, without having to give them cash. Prepaid cards make great gifts for birthdays and special occasions when you don’t know what the person likes. With Visa being accepted all over the world, it makes sense to give a gift card to people who enjoy shopping, either online or offline.

Similar to how anything with prepaid balance works, every Visa gift card will be worth a certain amount. Tracking the remaining value on that card can be done by logging into the website of the card issuer, or giving their customer support service a call. However, most people receive these cards without even using any of the associated balance.

Other than that, a Visa gift card works just like an ordinary credit card, and can be spent online or in-store. The main difference is how these gift cards are not linked to a bank account, making them less favorable for large purchases. Or for some people, they just want to convert these cards into something else, such as Bitcoin, a popular digital currency.

How to convert a prepaid visa gift card to Bitcoin

The most obvious answer would be to go out and buy Bitcoin with this gift card to convert its balance. While there is a lot of merit to such a statement, the number of Bitcoin exchanges dealing with card payments is very low, for obvious reasons. Accepting plastic card payment opens the door for huge fraud and chargeback rates, which is not something any Bitcoin company wants to be dealing with.

There are some platforms where buying Bitcoin with a credit card is a possibility, depending on where the end user lives. Bittylicious is one of those platforms that should support Visa gift card, albeit onlyfor UK customers. Other, lesser-known service, 247Exchange accepts credit card payments as well, and should – in theory at least – work with gift cards. These services are classified as Bitcoin brokers because they do not have a live order book but their expertise is getting you Bitcoins as fast as possible. A Bitcoin broker is your best bet to finding a solution to convert your Visa perpaid gift card to Bitcoin.

It is important to keep in mind that nearly all of these exchange platforms will ask users to go through an ID verification process. Some people might be put off by the concept of scanning their ID, providing a proof-of-address, and even scanning the front and back of their card. But when it comes to Bitcoin, using a medium subject to fraud in exchange for a non-refundable digital currency means everything needs to be checked carefully.

Other than buying Bitcoin from an exchange directly, there is an alternative option available. Purse.io presents a way for people to link their Visa gift card to an Amazon account and buy bitcoin through Purse.io. However, this will be done at a premium price, and not give end users the best bang for their buck.

How would you convert a Visa gift card to Bitcoin? Let us know in the comments below!

About The Author

JP Buntinx is a 30-year old FinTech and Bitcoin enthusiast living in Belgium. His passion for finance and technology made him one of the world's leading freelance Bitcoin writers, and he is working to achieve the same level of respect in the FinTech sector.